JTEX Distiller SE : Alembic-Style Filter / Preamp for Bass Guitars

Description

***  The
Distiller
SE
(Special Edition, purple PCB)
uses a smaller potentiometer than the white Distillers I used to sell here (the original pot is not in stock anywhere). The SE pot is from the same manufacturer (TT Electronics) and it's rated at 100,000 rotational cycles (about 10x more than common guitar pots). It's less pricey than the larger pot, and I'm passing the savings to you.
The SE pot has a long shaft (20mm), but you can easily cut it shorter with a hacksaw (it's aluminum). The threaded bushing is short (5mm). This works fine for pickguards, control plates and stompboxes. If you have to install it through wood, I am including an adapter (long nut) that I make myself out of a 1/4" jack shoulder nut (I cut the inside thread). It screws into the pot from the top of the wood, like a machine head nut.***
The Distiller is a tunable, active low-pass filter & preamp for bass guitars, with selectable resonance via a 3-position Q-Switch. The cutoff frequency range is from 250Hz to 8kHz, with a 12dB/octave slope.
Sonically identical to the original
Alembic onboard bass filter, it can be used as a drop-in replacement (the headers are compatible). I did make a few improvements, though:
Distiller works with virtually any bass (not just Alembic) as well as in stomp boxes, and has a battery life about 3 to 4 times longer than the original
(it only draws 0.3mA).
Uses 9V power. 18V may also be used, but I don't find it necessary.
No wiring included.
In my experience, almost every installation is different, so it's "bring your own wires".
No need to use the headers
if you don't already have matching Molex females in your existing wiring (as in many Alembic basses and pickups). You may simply solder wires on the large pads on the back of the Distiller (see pictures). You may want to desolder the headers (
or
I can do it for you by request)
, if you prefer to pass your wires through the holes
I'll happily assist you with the installation. I can even make you a custom wiring diagram if needed.
Designed and hand-assembled by myself in Montreal, Canada. Each unit bench-tested on an Audio Precision system.
Visit
jtex.ca/distiller
for more details and a video demo.
* Glad to count Yamaha Custom Shop (Los Angeles) among my customers. 3 Distillers will go in a 3-pickup bass for a Yamaha artist *